Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart

Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart (13 May 1878-10 February 1949) was Secretary of State for Air from 5 November 1931 to 7 June 1935, succeeding William Mackenzie and preceding Philip Cunliffe-Lister.

Biography
Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart was educated at Eton College and the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, and he served in the British Army and as an adjutant in the Royal Horse Guards before being elected to Parliament in 1906 for the Conservative Party from Maidstone. In 1915, he inherited the title Marquess of Londonderry from his father, and he served as a battalion and brigade commander in France during World War I. In 1919, he was appointed to the new Air Council at Westminster, and he became Under-Secretary of State for Air in 1920. During Ramsay MacDonald's National Government, he served as Secretary of State for Air from 1931 to 1935, preserving the core of the Royal Air Force even as the Treasury attempted to cut its funding. He ensured that radar was developed for regular use by the RAF, and the Staff College at Cranwell was opened towards the end of his tenure. However, his underestimation of the German Luftwaffe would prove fatal during the early years of World War II, especially during the Battle of Britain and The Blitz. For almost six months after leaving this post, he served as Lord Privy Seal. He fell from grace due to his high-profile support for friendly relations with Nazi Germany (Adolf Hitler even informed him of his invasion plans for Czechoslovakia and Poland back in 1936, years before they would be implemented). He played a marginal role in Neville Chamberlain's resignation in 1940, and he failed to win any favor from his second cousin Winston Churchill, the next Prime Minister. He died in 1949.